Cell Phones and Health

4 Crazy Ways Cell Phones Hurt Your Health

How your phone can foil your mental and physical health

All that tapping, typing, and swiping may make your touchscreen as germy as your computer keyboard, a study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology found. "About 20 to 30 percent of viruses on a glass surface similar to a smartphone screen will transfer to your fingertips," says study author Tim Julian, Ph.D. It's a short trip to your mouth or eyes. If your phone has Gorilla Glass (many do) and it's not coated to resist fingerprints or glare, you can safely clean the screen with a disinfecting wipe, like Clorox's.

THEY'RE ADDICTIVE

You don't own your phone—it owns you. Researchers in Finland found that most people obsessively check their menu screen, news, e-mail, and apps, even though the likelihood of seeing new and interesting information keeps decreasing. "The more you do it, the less you gain," says study author Antti Oulasvirta, Ph.D. He recommends setting specific times to touch base with your touchscreen, such as on the hour (or half hour if the withdrawal is too much).

THEY'RE EYESORES

The combination of holding your phone too close and staring at a sadistically small font can lead to eyestrain, headaches, dry eye, and blurred vision, according to research from the SUNY College of Optometry. Study author Mark Rosenfield, O.D., Ph.D., offers this ocular Rx: Increase the font size to twice the smallest size you're able to read, maintain a distance of at least 16 inches between the screen and your eyes, and if you're reading for a while, get into the habit of taking frequent 20-second breaks. (Get more cool health and tech tips delivered to your inbox every day when you sign up for our FREE Daily Dose newsletter!)

THEY'RE STRESSFUL

You bought it so you could be accessible 24-7, but now you never seem to have time to unwind—you're never unreachable. In fact, a University of Worcester study shows that this constant stress can actually trick people into believing that their phone vibrated from a new text or e-mail even when no messages came in. So learn to power down: Shut off your phone for at least an hour every day, and gradually work your way up to 2-hour phone vacations.